Taplist

Tag: Review

This post has been almost a year in the making. On Black Friday, 2016, I went to a Goose Island Bourbon County Release. The year before, I had been to a release, but got there late in the afternoon and all the bottles were gone. I got to try several vintages on draft, which was great, but I decided that the following year I would head out early to get bottles. 6AM early in fact. I secured my place in line and with less hassle than I expected (shout-out to John’s Marketplace) I received my allotment of bottles. Two bottles of the base stout, one bottle of the Coffee variant and one bottle of the Barleywine. In theory, I could have gone to a different release later in the day and picked up the same set again, but decided that four was enough. The two bottles of Base Stout fit nicely into my small but growing collection of double bottles for my aging experiments.

There wasn’t much reason to hang on to the Coffee stout or the Barleywine for long since those weren’t part of the aging experiment, but then we didn’t get to the Base Stout until late February. Obviously, I’m not going to remember what these beers tasted like a year later, even with detailed tasting notes, but I still think it’s interesting to look back at them.

I remember not loving the coffee variant. Supposedly it changes every year, so I assume some years are better than others. We popped this one on Black Friday, so maybe it needed some aging to mellow the coffee? (4.25 stars)

Looking back at these tasting notes doesn’t really do it justice. The Barleywine stole the show. Tasted side by side on release day I felt the barleywine was even better than the stout. At the very least, the barleywine was ready to drink that day. (4.75 stars)

Not too surprising results with the aged sample of the stout. The oxidation character has emerged in the form of dark fruit, while the fresh barrel character (vanilla and coconut) has faded. The bourbon has almost disappeared as well, expect for in that after taste/throat burn. I can’t guarantee, since as I mentioned above, I don’t exactly remember the beer itself, but based on the tasting notes and the sensory characteristics associated I would wager a guess that I liked the fresh bottle better. That’s not to say the aged bottle is “bad” per se… just different. (4.5 stars fresh).

So there we have it. The slow tasting of the 2016 lineup of Bourbon County Brand Stout (and Barleywine). 2017 Black Friday is a couple weeks away and I’ll be curious to see what the line up is like this year. Hopefully, the barleywine is just as good and the coffee variant is better. The base stout I expect to be the “same”. Supposedly, there is a blueberry and almond variant this year that’s supposed to be marzipan inspired, but I’m not sure if that one will make it to Oregon. The Proprietors Variant is a Chicago only release. They also have a Reserve Stout, which is aged in 25 year old Bourbon Barrels, but that one is $75 (if I recall correctly) for a 22 ounce bottle, so the only way I’m getting to taste that one is if someone gives me a bottle, or pops it in my presence.

Haven’t had a variety pack in a while, but was at Costco shopping for a wedding reception and happened across the Stone Mixed Pack. Bought one for the bride and groom and one for us. All four beers in the pack are IPAs, but they are all rather unique in some different ways. This case had an enjoy by date in December, so super fresh as well.

Hop Revolver #4 – Mandarina Bavaria – Distinct orange like aroma. Very hoppy, some caramel sweetness but mostly citrusy hops. This is very much the calling card of Mandarina Bavaria hops. Mandarin is a type of citrus fruit very similar to an orange (often referred to as a Mandarin Orange). Lives up to it’s billing. (4.5 stars of 5)

Stone Delicious IPA – This one is well, delicious. Strong orange/citrus aroma with slight “dank” note to it. Strong citrus flavor with backing of dank/pine. Medium to low bitterness that hangs on for a while. Reminiscent of candied orange peel, but in a different way than the Hop Revolver. (4.25)

Ruination Double IPA – Bring out the big guns. Toppling the scales at 8.5% and this one punches you in the mouth (in a good way). Very strong piney hop aroma. Pine and citrus hop flavor balanced by some caramel malt sweetness. Bitterness lingers. (4.25)

Stone IPA – The box touts it as an “Iconic West Coast Style IPA” but I might have to disagree. That’s not to say it’s bad, but it’s quite different than the other IPA’s in this box. This one has a much more delicate flavor, the hops more floral and earthy. West Coast, at least the Pacific Northwest is more dank, piney and citrus. I guess it could be West Coast if you go back far enough, since it seems to be more English IPA in style. Which isn’t bad, but a bit startling after the other three punch you in the mouth and then one is light and gentle. Still, quite drinkable. (3.75)

So there you have it, a nice four pack of Stone IPA’s available (for now) at Costco, at the very least in Oregon. Hopefully in some other places as well. Overall a very enjoyable variety that I would recommend seeking out. If you’re a fan of Stone, a fan of IPAs, or both, this is the pack for you.

The hot weather has held on for way too long, but still we have managed to sneak a few barrel aged specialties into the rotation. Helping to fight the “dark and thick” component is a few barrel aged beers that aren’t stouts.

Lobo Amarillo – Alameda Brewing(Tequila Barrel Aged DIPA) – Starting with a non-stout is this interesting offering from Alameda. This is a tequila barrel aged version of their Yellow Wolf Double IPA. This beer packs a punch! Very strong tequila character, hints of lime and salt that I started to wonder were added, or were just my imagination, but basically tastes almost like a margarita or just a straight tequila shot. The hops get covered up, so it loses a lot of it’s IPA character, but it’s still enjoyable. (4.0 of 5 stars)

Bourbon Barrel Aged Spitfire – Santiam Brewing – This one was from the Salem Mini Tour, the barrel aged version of their English Amber. It still had a good malty character of the amber, but with hints of vanilla and coconut from the oak and good bourbon flavor. (4.75 of 5)

Spiced Apple Porter – Oakshire Brewing – So this is another Inception style beer with many layers. So, a cider company aged a cider in a bourbon barrel. Then they gave that barrel to Oakshire. So the “Cider barrel” started life as a bourbon barrel. We have a sweet vanilla and cinnamon aroma with hints of apple and some good bourbon notes. The flavor is slightly roasty with apple, cinnamon and oak notes. To be perfectly honest, the base porter gets completely lost within the layers of bourbon and spiced cider, but it makes a good canvas for a delicious beer. (4.75 of 5)

Hellshire VII (BBA Russian Imperial Stout) – Oakshire Brewing – This is a massive beer, clocking in at 13.75% alcohol. Huge bourbon character, lots of vanilla. Super smooth with no alcohol burn, this beer could get very dangerous. Some dark coffee-like roast came out as it warmed. Simply phenomenal. (4.75 of 5)

Bomb! – Prairie Artisan Ales (Bourbon Barrel Stout) – You know you have good friends when someone decides to share a major tick like this. My buddy broke this out on his birthday, as well he should, but also decided to pour it around. The bottle says coffee, chocolate and ancho chiles. I don’t get the heat (which is fine with me) but the chocolate and coffee shine through. Rich and decadent, but also surprisingly drinkable for 13%. A 2 oz pour was plenty, but it could be dangerous in larger quantities. (4.75 of 5)

Helldorado – Firestone Walker Brewing – I got to try this one at the Proper Pint grand opening. Firestone Walker bills this as a Blond Barleywine. I described it to my friend at the Grand Opening as a “Bourbon Barrel Aged Triple IPA”. The logic was this; triple IPA is a nonsense style but, some people do use it for big 11-12% hoppy beers like Boneyard’s Notorious. Once you get into 12% alcohol and 100 IBU you’re in American Barleywine territory, but with a lighter color and a focus on El Dorado hops, this one leaned more IPA to me, even in the fictional sense. Whatever you want to call it, it’s damn tasty. (4.75 of 5)

The warm weather has majorly slowed down the consumption of high alcohol, dark, barrel aged beers, but there’s been a handful here and there. I don’t know how many “parts” to this post there will be since I have several more barrel aged beers waiting in the wings, so this may just become a regular ongoing feature.

2016 Two Beers Overhang Porter – This was a bottle that I brought home from judging the Best of Craft Beer awards and happened to be the last one we cracked open. This beer had an aroma of dark dry fruit and faint vanilla, the flavor was also heavy on dark dry fruit and slight oak. I remarked it was not bad, but I felt it was slightly past it’s prime. Interestingly, I tasted this at the competition and gave it 2.75 stars on Untappd and said it was a huge diacetyl bomb. I obviously forgot this fact when I got a bottle to bring home. The bottle we had at home though was much better. I gave that one 4 stars. (4 stars).

2016 McMenamins Longest Night of the Year – Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine. Ironically enough we ended up drinking this one a couple of days before the summer solstice. (Also interesting, mine is still the most recent check in on Untappd, so apparently no one else had the willpower to hold on to a bottle that long.) This one had dark fruit, brown sugar and whiskey in the aroma coupled with sweet dark fruit, vanilla and whisky in the flavor. Clear red color, highly carbonated (surprising for a BA Barleywine) very boozy with a lot of warming. Not a normal summer drink, but it was still very nice. (4.75 stars).

2016 Ex Novo Kill the Sun – Bourbon barrel aged Russian Imperial Stout. I got to try this one over the weekend at the Ex Novo 3rd Anniversary party and man was it good. This one had a ton of dark dry fruit in the aroma and flavor, basically tasted like raisins. Good whiskey character, pretty boozy. Should continue to improve with age. I wish I had a couple bottles of this to stash away. (4.75 stars)

Culmination Pinot Evil II – Barrel aged Tripel with wine grapes. I love Belgian style beers, so the last time I was at Culmination I had to try this. They don’t specify the barrel used, but with wine grapes added I’m assuming it was also aged in a wine barrel. It didn’t give off any major whiskey notes. Wine barrel aging of beer is becoming more popular. This beer started out with a sharp tang of acidity that I would assume was from the grapes, and then it finished with that traditional bubblegum sweetness of a Belgian beer. It wasn’t sour, but it had just a little bit of a bite to it. (4.75 stars)

Oregon Mead and Cider Co. Free Press Pinot Gris Barrel Aged Frankencyser – Say that three times fast… So this was a really interesting sample on my taster flight at Oregon Mead and Cider (Formerly Stung Fermented). Cyser is a blend of cider and mead, and this one was a blend of whatever was left in the bottom of the tanks after a bottling run of their standard Free Press Cider and Worker Mead. This was blended (ratio unknown, maybe half and half?) and then aged in a Pinot Gris barrel. I didn’t write down detailed tasting notes but I remember it being very fruity and refreshing and it picked up a lot of white wine character from the barrel. It almost just tasted like wine. But a little sweeter, since most Oregon Gris is pretty dry. (4.5 stars)

Yesterday, I was meeting my wife and some friends at Culmination Brewing, but I ended up getting there way early (I work 6AM-2:30PM). I remembered that Stung Meadery was in the same building and so I figured I’d check them out and do a tasting while I waited for everyone else. When I got there, I discovered they had also begun making cider and had changed their name to The Oregon Mead & Cider Co. You can check out their website HERE.

I was planning to just get a glass of something while I waited and after some initial confusion found out they don’t pour pints/full pours. They have a taster flight you can try, or just a handful of small tasters, and for take home they have bottle sales and growler fills. So I ended up doing the full flight. 8 samples which included six of their bottled products and then two choices from the draft only menu.

First the ciders: The first one I had was the Cherry Vanilla Cider. This was the first one I picked and was planning to get the full pour of when I discovered I could only get tasters. It was good, but I’m glad it wasn’t the only thing I had because some of the stuff that came later was really delicious. Next from the draft list was the Pinot Gris Barrel aged FrankenCyser. The server (who’s name I didn’t catch.. of course.. my bad) explained to me that Cyser is a blend of Cider and Mead and this Frankencyser was the leftovers from the bottom of the tanks after bottling the standard mead and cider and it was blended together and put into a wine barrel. This was delicious and picked up a lot of the white wine character. Next were their two bottled ciders. The Free Press Cider and the Free Press Hopped Cider. The base cider is very clean, very lightly flavored. It was good but very basic. The hopped cider was very nice. The hops added a fruity/floral component to the cider. They don’t boil anything, so no bitterness was added, just “dry hopped” so to speak with the hops.

The interesting thing about these ciders is that they are very dry. I have a tendency to like my ciders sweet, and I think part of the reason is a lot of dry ciders, especially English ciders, tend to be harsh and tannic and astringent. These ciders aren’t that at all. They are dry… but just dry enough. Like a white wine, rather than a steeped tea. They aren’t bitter or astringent.

Next the meads: The first mead I tried was their standard base mead Drink Mate Die, AKA Worker Standard Sparkling Mead. So, the first thing in that name that jumps out is sparkling. These are carbonated meads. The standard mead uses ginger and Cascade hops. I’m not usually a fan of ginger, but it’s very easy going here. They use a light touch, it’s very subtle. Quite tasty and quite drinkable. The other mead I tried was a Mosaic Sparkling Mead which had the addition of Mosiac hops, which are very fruity. A very nice compliment to the honey. These two meads, and all of the Worker series, are pretty low alcohol (by mead standards) at around 6.5% A lot of meads and honeywines clock in at 10-15% like standard grape wines. Fear not, OM&CCo has a few of those as well.

The last two meads are from the Queen Series. These are the showstoppers. Single varietal honeys and specific areas to showcase the flavor of the honey. These also clock in at around 16% alcohol. The two that I got to try were the Blackberry Blossom and the High Desert. The blackberry blossom is exactly what it sounds like, honey from bees that only eat from the flowers of blackberry vines. It’s very fruity with notes of the berries themselves. It’s amazing that flavor passes through just from the nectar. The blueberry is very boozy and has a good bit of burn to it. Not sure if aging would help that, or letting it stand like a wine. The High Desert honey is harvested from out near Bend where the bees eat from sage. rabbit brush, and other desert wildflowers. This mead has a really interesting herbal quality to it. The sage really shines through. It was really quite interesting. Similar alcohol to the blackberry but this one was much, much smoother. Dangerously so. This would be quite drinkable on a hot day, so watch out.

Much like the ciders, the meads are also bone dry. They use champagne yeast to get a complete and clean fermentation. Some meads can be cloying sweet and heavy in mouthfeel that makes it difficult to drink.

If you’ve never had mead, this would be a great place to do a flight and try several different kinds. If you love mead but haven’t been here yet you should put it on your list. I would highly recommend it for fans of cider and mead. It’s different than most of what I’ve ever had and I would assume that would apply to others as well.

The standard 12 pack variety pack contains either four bottles each of three types of beer, or three bottles each of four types of beer. Makes logical sense. However, the variety pack from Dick’s Brewing out of Centralia, Washington, boasts no less than eight varieties.

This was intriguing since it was a chance to try even more stuff in one go. I expected a complete random assortment, some one bottle, some three bottles etc. Turns out it wasn’t quite as random, which made sense from a production standpoint. The box was arranged with eight of the bottles in four sets of two, and then four singles. So by minimum of eight, it usually means exactly eight. This box contained two IPA, two Mountain Amber, two Cream Stout and two Golden Ale. The four singles were Irish Red, Best Bitter, Grand Cru (Belgian) and Dick Danger (Cascadian Dark/Black IPA).

The first one we opened was the Dick Danger Ale, which they list as their “Flagship” and also as a Cascadian Dark Ale, or Black IPA. Upon opening it was obvious there was a problem. The beer was light brown, see through, very fizzy but like soda, huge bubbles clinging to the side of the glass and no head retention. It tasted flat and caramelish. No hops, no bitterness.

Next we had the Cream Stout and the Mountain Amber. These two weren’t too bad. The Stout was roasty enough to be almost smoky, the Amber was oxidized but not as offensive as the CDA. The last one we tried the first night was the IPA and it was not good. Hoppy beers just don’t age well at all. At this point I’m realizing that all of these beers are just old. Dicks does not print package dates or best by dates on their bottles or the cases and it shows. Who knows how long these have been sitting in the store.

The next night I tried the Golden Ale and it wasn’t too bad. Less hops to go bad, and a milder flavor profile to begin with. The last one I tried was the Grand Cru Belgian, figuring out of any of the styles that one could hold up the most to age. It was OK, but it was still obviously oxidized and it was very sharp and alcoholic. I would wager it may have been higher than the label claim of 10% ABV.

The last two I haven’t tried yet are the Irish Red and the Best Bitter. They are in the fridge right now, but I’m not holding out much hope.

It’s sad really that this could have been a really great variety pack, but just ravaged by time. I don’t think a lot of people realize just how perishable beer is. Just like any food product it has an “expiration” date. Granted, it won’t “spoil”, meaning it won’t go rotten and make you sick, but it can lose a lot of it’s flavor and aroma and just end up not tasting very good.

If we’re ever in Centralia and get a chance to try some fresh, maybe it will be better, but likely not going to take a chance on the variety pack again.

I’m trying to do more beer reviews so I will start with something extremely special I had a couple days ago.

Westvleteren 12, or Westy 12 as it’s commonly referred to, is a strong dark Trappist beer. Called a “Quad” in the U.S., it’s simply referred to by number in the Monastery. It’s brewed at the Monastery Sint-Sixtusabdij (Abbey Saint Sixtus) in Westvleteren, Belgium.

Westy 12 is proclaimed by many as one of the best beers in the world. It’s also extremely rare, only able to be purchased at the Monastery itself. No where else sells it. I was given a bottle by a very generous friend who ferried it back from Belgium himself. As with most things proclaimed the “BEST OF” whatever, it’s hard for anything to live up to that hype, so I try to prepare myself to just judge it as is, but of course that’s hard to do.

The “minimum shelf life” date on my bottle was 10-4-16, which I believe would be April 10, 2016 (other dates on the website appear to be Day/Month/Year which is the European standard). Internet sleuthing tells me Westy 12 is dated with a “Best By” of three years, so this bottle would have been bottled in 2013.

The beer poured very dark brown, with a thin white head that was very persistent. The beer lacked the characteristic “Belgian lace”, but as it’s rather thick and boozy it had decent “legs” in the glass. It shocked me how dark it was (and of course I neglected to take a picture of it) but I’m not sure what I was expecting, having never had this beer, or really even this style of beer before. Chimay Blue might be the closest I’ve had.

The aroma was strong with dark sugars and caramel and lacking in (my opinion) the traditional Belgian bubblegum esters and clove phenolics, perhaps due the the age? Very subdued aroma. Very slight bit of oxidation in the aroma as well, but holding up really well for a 3.5 year old bottle. Due, I’m sure, to the monk’s production and bottling procedures, so very well done. I did start to pick up some slight clove and vanilla as it warmed, so probably shame on me for serving it too cold.

Now, what the aroma lacks, the flavor more than makes up for. This is a powerfully flavored beer. Strong dark sugar flavors mixed with all manner of dark fruit. Pretty decent alcohol burn which should be expected to 10.2%. This beer is boozy and you start to feel it pretty quickly. I’ve had some big beers before but for whatever reason this one hit me hard.

Now, as far as overall impression goes, this is an extremely well made, well packaged, well stored beer. Without a doubt. Yet, while I don’t want to say it “didn’t live up to my expectations” since I think that may be too harsh, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Granted, I have no idea how I would have any idea what to expect, so I’m pretty much stuck in my own catch-22. Would I recommend it? Sure.. it’s a white whale for many people, the Holy Grail of beer that they search their whole life for. If you get a chance to try it by all means, do so. Try to keep the expectations to a minimum, which I believe it where I failed. It was a magnificent beer, but somehow didn’t fulfill what I was anticipating it to be. Someday I’d like to try one fresh, but I know how unlikely that is to happen. Thankfully 4 out of the 6 trappist breweries are available stateside. Westmalle, Rochefort, Chimay and Orval you can get here. The other two are Westvleteren and Achel (Which until I saw it on the Sint-Sixtus website I had never heard of).